Hornet Media and the Fullerton Observer interviewed Matt Truxaw, running for the Fullerton City Council District 1, at a candidate forum at Fullerton College on Oct. 7, 2024. The Fullerton Observer reached out to all candidates running for this office for the opportunity to take part in a video interview at the forum and interviewed those who responded.
This video series is a joint production of the Fullerton Observer, a volunteer-run community newspaper, and Hornet Media, the student-run media outlets housed in the Fullerton College journalism program.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity but have not been independently fact-checked.
View live coverage of local elections returns on Nov. 5, 2024, at 7 p.m. on Hornet Media’s YouTube channel @fchornetmedia
Video Transcript:
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
How many city council meetings have you attended in person in the past 12 months?
Matt Truxaw
Honestly, I’ve only been to two or three city council meetings in person, and I. I think that’s one of the concerns I have with city Council is it’s easy to ignore. And I think as a city council person, I think one of the things we can do better is pushing the information out, especially when there’s those key votes and things that are coming up so people understand. Like the walk on Wilshire votes tomorrow that people understand that that’s something that’s important to the city and people should know about it. And that one has been pretty well publicized. But what other things have found out? I’ve recently semi-retired. I still do an occasional consulting gig, but now I’ve lately had more time to start focusing on what’s happening, and I realize we need to change some things.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
So how do you plan on balancing the city budget? Do you plan to cut? Do you have any plans for concrete revenue expansion?
Matt Truxaw
The budget is a hard one because there is limited budget. There’s only certain things you can do. But I think ideally we can expand revenue. The main sources of revenue are property tax and sales tax, so increasing a business drawing people into Fullerton. Again, the Walker and Wilshire I think is a great little thing that brings people in and gives them a chance to spend money accidentally. And then from a property tax perspective, I know there’s some new bills going on, maybe adjusting some of the zoning requirements and things to make it a little easier to to build something new. And then as far as cuts, I don’t know for sure. One of the things I come from a business background and I.T. background, I’ve done a lot of projects over my career and I understand how to understand what’s needed. What’s the most important priority and and focus on those and get those in. So I’m hoping not to have to cut things, but if there are, I think there are opportunities. Again, maybe from an I.T. perspective, are there things we can automate to make it more efficient and cost less? I think there’s likely to be some of those opportunities as well.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What are some of your biggest challenges? How would you address them?
Matt Truxaw
District one is up in the Northwest. It’s probably one of the more affluent areas of Fullerton. So I see the big issues are probably not the most important overall. But the big issue that I hear as I walk around is the roads. And that’s not just District one that’s all over and doing something to clean up those roads, the roads. But I think I don’t like to think of, even if I’m representing District one, that I’m just representing District one, I think that’s one. I’m not just here for the people of district. I’m here for everyone in Fullerton. I think there’s lots of different opportunities there. And we should look at what’s what is Fullerton need, not necessarily what District one needs.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
Who has donated to your campaign and who is endorsing you?
Matt Truxaw
I have a very grassroots campaign. I have this much budget. I know Fred’s got like a quarter million dollars. My opponent for most of that is from outside of Fullerton. I’ve got mostly local people and then friends and family who have who have contributed. And I’m on a barebones budget. I’ve walked nearly every house in my district because I can get out there. I have two legs, but I don’t have a lot of dollars from endorsements perspective, I joined jumped into this campaign late. I haven’t really gone out searching for endorsements. I do have a half a dozen or so, mostly from local teachers and things, people I’ve known personally over the years who know I’m honest and trustworthy and I’ll do what I say I’m going to do.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
What specific policies do you propose to address? The rising cost of housing, Ensuring affordable options for college students, seniors and low income individuals?
Matt Truxaw
Affordable housing in Orange County is really an oxymoron. Fullerton is one of the lower price cities, believe it or not, In Orange County, and the median price of a house is still over $1,000,000. So it’s really hard to talk affordable housing. I know there is some bills going on for technically affordable housing to help that out. And one idea I heard recently that I think is really interesting is the idea of being able to put a tiny house or possibly even an RV on the air in your yard and make it a rentable space. Now, to do that, you’d have to make sure there are appropriate sewer hookups and things. You don’t want people dumping stuff in the streets. But I think I’d need to think about it more. But I think that’s one way that might be a possibility to, again, for people who are willing to live in a small space or people have no space and need someplace, and then other things like making it easier to get in and build an ad on the back of a house to make a small rental space. Those are some of the things I can think of.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
How do you plan to make Fullerton a walkable and accessible city?
Matt Truxaw
OC I mentioned Walk on Wilshire. That’s a pet peeve of mine that that there why I still don’t know why they’re talking about closing down but I think things like that are really wonderful and it brings people together gives you a space. It creates a walkable space. I would love to create honestly, a series of like pocket plazas like, like the walk on Wilshire around different places in Fullerton. They’re talking about doing one up by the Fox Theater, maybe down by the Union Pacific Trail and maybe a few others, and create an incentive to walk between them and make it a little safer area to walk between that. That helps bring the community together. It helps bring people together. It helps people get some exercise. And then there’s a lot of accidental benefits to someone walking down the street and going, Oh, look at that shirt and that window. Let me go step in there. Oh, I need a drink. Let me go in here to this cafe. So that’s the walkability thing I think is something we should really focus on.
Hornet Media / Fullerton Observer
How do you plan to make the city more environmentally sustainable?
Matt Truxaw
Environmentally sustainable? Well, walkability actually would help if you guys made it easier to bike or walk around town making safer bike trails and things would help. I love that. Like the parking structure over the library has the the solar panels. I think we should be putting solar panels on top of all of our arroyo tops. And I think doing it over parking lots is especially good because you create the shade and you create the, you know, energy savings and then other things. I know they’re working on some of the things like composting and other things with our trash collectors, and I’m sure there’s a lot of other things we could do. I mean, and there’s a lot of things we can do just as citizens. And it doesn’t necessarily require a city involved. My wife and I joined a group that went down into the branches to clean out trash a couple of weekends ago and those types of things. There’s a lot I think one encouraging everyone to get involved is going to be more than any one city council person do. But we should do what we can as a city council to.